An engine-generator or a genset may be a combination of an engine and a generator. Both components may be mounted together to form a single machine. A genset may provide electricity at various locations such as construction sites or emergency response sites. Generally, a genset may provide electricity for apartments, office buildings, hotels and hospitals.
A genset may be a small person-portable device or a larger device that may be mounted on a skid or a trailer, depending on the requirements and location, and the amount of power that is needed for a particular use. Often, a genset may be mounted within an enclosure, such as a removable shroud or cover.
Within the enclosure, adequate ventilation and cooling may be required to dissipate heat generated by the genset components for reliable operation of the genset. Generally, heat, from a genset, may be dissipated by natural convection. For instance, heat may be dissipated from an engine mounted radiator which may be cooled by air flowing through a compartment in the enclosure. An air flow may be usually produced by a radiator fan.
Besides heat, noise or sound may be also generated by the engine, by the generator and by the exhaust, and it is obviously desirable to keep such sound emissions as low as possible. Local authorities may also set sound regulations, which may include limits on maximum sound emissions. Hence, the sound emission from the genset enclosure may need to be within the maximum sound limits in order to operate legally. The enclosure may block or attenuate sound emanating from the engine or other genset components.
In order to provide adequate cooling within the genset enclosure, it may be necessary to provide openings within the enclosure for ventilation. Hence, sound may be emitted through the openings. In some genset enclosures, the radiator may be located near an opening to facilitate airflow through the enclosure.
To reduce sound emission through the openings, the number or size of openings in the compartment may be decreased. However, the air flow may decrease to a level where the cooling effect may be also reduced, resulting in an increase in temperature within the enclosure. This may adversely affect temperature sensitive components, such as an alternator, a fuel injection system, and various electronic components, such as microprocessors. A solution may be to increase the air flow by providing a fan which has a high rotational speed. However, the increase in fan speed may result in more noise being produced from the engine compartment.
Sound may also be reduced by lowering the fan speed or lowering engine output. However, such actions may decrease the overall efficiency of the machine. Sound dampers may be used to reduce or avoid the transmission of sound. The genset enclosure may be lined with sound dampers, which may either absorb or reflect the noise.
It is desirable to provide adequate ventilation through a genset enclosure with a minimal emission of sound from the genset enclosure. The present disclosure is directed, at least in part, to improving or overcoming one or more aspects of the prior art system.